Gender identity consists of the how the individual identifies with their gender. In short, it represents how a person recognizes himself: male, female, both or neither gender.
What determines gender identity is the way a person feels and perceives himself, as well as the way he wants to be recognized by other people.
Gender identity can be measured in different degrees of masculinity or femininity, which can change throughout life, according to some psychologists.
Types of gender identities
There are three main types of gender identity: transgender, cisgender and non-binary.
O transgender it is the individual who identifies with a gender different from the one assigned to him at birth. For example: a person who is born with male characteristics (from a biological point of view), but who feels female; or the individual who has feminine physical characteristics but who identifies himself as a man.
Contrary to what was wrongly thought in the past, transgenderism is not a mental disorder and any attempt to pathologize transgender people may represent a violation of the human rights of the individual.
know more about transgender.
O cisgender it consists of the individual who identifies with his "born gender". For example: an individual who has biological characteristics typical of the male gender and who identifies himself (socially and psychologically) as a man. In this way, it can be said that it is a cisgender man.
know more about cisgender, understand the difference between cisgender and transgender and see the meaning and types of stereotypes.
already the non-binary it is the classification that characterizes the mixture between male and female, or the total indifference between them. Non-binary individuals go beyond the social roles that are assigned to genders, creating a third identity that escapes the "male-female" pattern.
See also the meaning of Homosexuality.
Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation
A lot of people confuse the two concepts, however gender identity is not related to sexual orientation.
A transgender woman (individual who was born with a male sexual organ, but who identifies with the gender female), for example, can have any type of sexual orientation - homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, asexual, etc.
The term "gender" is used to represent the social and psychological difference between men and women. Thus, gender identity, as stated, refers to the identification that a person has for a certain gender - man, woman, both or neither. On the other hand, sexual orientation depends on the gender that the person feels sexually attracted to.
still exists the gender expression, which represents the way the individual expresses their gender to society, whether through clothes, language, attitudes, gestures, etc.
See also:LGBT, gender and gender inequality.